The 

Press  Club 

of  Chicago 


WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT 
OFFEUS  TO  ITS  MEMBERS 


1911 


LAWRENCE  J.  GUTTER 

Collection  of  Chicogoono 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   ILLINOIS 
AT  CHICAGO 

The  University  Library 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  PRESS  CLUB 


1880— Franc  B.  Wilkie. 
1881— W.  K.  Sullivan. 
1882— Samuel  J.  Medill. 
1883— William   E.   Curtis. 
1884 — James  B.  Bradwell. 
1885 — Joseph  R.  Dunlop. 
1886 — John  F.  Ballantyne. 
1887— James  W.  Scott. 
1888— James  W.  Scott. 
1890— Stanley  Waterloo. 
1891— W.  A.  Taylor. 
1892— John  E.  Wilkie. 
1893— Stanley  Waterloo. 
1894— Frank  A.  Vanderlip. 
1895— A.  T.  Packard. 
1896— Joseph  Medill. 
1897 — Washington  Hesing. 
1898— William  M.  Knox. 
1899— William   M.  Knox. 
1900— John   E.   Wright. 
1901— William  H.  Freeman. 
1902— Homer  J.  Carr. 
1903— Homer  J.  Carr. 
1904 — Homer  J.  Carr. 
1905— Homer  J.  Carr. 
1906— John  J.  Flinn. 
1907— John  J.  Flinn. 
1908— Eichard  H.  Little. 
1909— Henry  B.  Chamberlin. 
1910— John  C.  Shaffer. 
1910— Charles  H.  Sergei. 
1911— Charles  H.  Sergei. 


Officers  1911 


CHARLES  H.   SERGEL,   President 

E.   J.  BAKER,   1st  Vice-President  ; 

R.   R.  JONES,   2nd  Vice-President 

H.   S.  HYMAN,  Treasurer 

D.  L.  HANSON,  Financial  Secretary 

W.   FREDERIC  NUTT,   Recording  Secretary 

JOSEPH  F.   HENDERSON,   Librarian 


Directors 


THEO.    VAN  R.    ASHCROFT 
HORACE    M.    FORD 

GEORGE   B.   HISCHB 
W.    R.    BARNES 

H.   B.    McMEAL 
.  J.    F.    PRESNELL. 


'MO  one  who  has  not  enjoyed  the  hospi- 
tality  of  the  Chicago  Press  Club  knows 
what  he  has  missed.  I  am  deeply  sensi- 
ble of  the  fact  that  I  have  never  known 
Chicago  at  her  best  until  today;  have  never 
know^n  the  real  source  of  her  strength 
and  the  secret  of  her  renown.  Chicago 
is  here.  The  Press  Club  is  Chicago  incar- 
nate. This  is  what  makes  Chicago  famous. 
CHARLES  WARREN  FAIRBANKS 

Vice-President  of  the  United  States 
March  18.  1909 


Concerning  The  Press  Club 


HE  Press  Club  of  Chicago,  famous 
among  the  clubs  of  the  world,  is 
now  at  home  in  its  own  building. 
Thirty-two  years  ago  (January  11, 
1880)  it  was  organized,  'Ho  bring 
members  of  the  newspaper  and  literary  pro- 
fession together  in  closer  personal  relation, 
to  foster  good-fellowship,  to  promote  the  in- 
terests of  its  members,  and  to  provide  them 
with  comfortable  club  rooms."  It  has  done 
all  of  this.  It  has  done  more.  From  a  group 
of  twenty-five  men  it  has  grown  to  a  strong 
institution,  strong  in  numbers  (its  member- 
ship is  approaching  1,200),  strong  in  the 
character  of  its  membership  (no  other  club 
equals  it  as  an  organization  of  writers), 
strong  in  its  finances  (it  is  possessed  of  prop- 
erty valued  at  $300,000),  strong  as  a  social 
force  in  the  community. 

Tolerant,  democratic,  sympathetic,  the 
Press  Club  of  Chicago  has  demonstrated  its 
fundamental  virility.  It  was  well  born.  In 
its  thirty-second  year  it  is  proud  of  its  par- 
entage and  glad  that  it  is  possessed  of  the 
health  and  strength  which  is  enabling  it  to 
proceed  along  broader  and  more  generous 
lines.  In  its  former  homes — the  club  has 
been    housed    under   three    temporary   roofs — 


hundreds  of  distinguished  people  have  been 
its  guests.  Its  hospitality  has  brought  it 
renown,  but  the  personality  of  its  member- 
ship has  been  its  real  strength.  It  is  good 
to  know  the  Press  Club  of  Chicago — it  is 
better  to  be  of  it. 


MEMBERSHIP 


Life    members    enjoy    all    the    privileges    of 

active  members.  Life  members  pay  $300  and 
are  exempted  from  the  payment  of  dues. 
When  the  life  membership  list  is  completed 
no  more  applications  will  be  received.  The 
money  received  from  life  memberships  can- 
not be  used  for  any  purpose  save  'the  retire- 
ment of  the  bonds  or  devoted  to  the  building 
fund.  The  value  of  such  a  holding  in  the 
Press  Club  of  Chicago  is  apparent  and  the 
price  is  less  than  the  initiation  fee  in  some. 

Active  members  pay  yearly  dues  of  $40. 
Non-resident  members  pay  yearly  dues  of  $10. 

Life  members  must  be  persons  of  charac- 
ter and  standing,  but  need  not  have  the  lit- 
erary  qualifications  oi   active   members. 

The   qualifications  for  active  members  are: 

(a)  Persons  regularly  connected  with  the 
press,  in  Chicago  or  elsewhere^as  editors,  re- 
porters, artists,  proprietors,  paid  correspon- 
dents or  contributors,  general  managers, 
business  managers  and  proof  readers  of  the 
daily  papers. 

(b)  Authors  of  books  of  original  matter 
and  of  literary  character,  publishers,  illus- 
trators of  such  books  and  of  magazines,  and 


persons  whose  chief  occupation  is  literary. 

(c)  Persons  who  can  produce  indisputable 
proof  of  having  at  some  time  fulfilled  one  or 
more  of  the  above  qualifications  for  a  period 
of  five  years. 

Non-resident  members  must  have  one  or 
more  of  the  qualifications  for  active  member- 
ship, but  must  not  reside  or  have  their  place 
of  business  in  Chicago  or   Cook  county. 

The  Press  Club  of  Chicago  offers  its  mem- 
bers a  well-equipped,  well-operated  club  house 
at  26  N.  Dearborn  street,  Chicago.  It  occu- 
pies for  club  purposes  five  floors  of  its  eight- 
story  building  at  that  number  and  its  doors 
are  never  closed.  It  has  a  library  exceeding 
3,000  volumes,  including  many  reference 
works.  The  new  books  are  purchased  month- 
ly, while  nearly  all  the  current  magazines  and 
many  daily  and  weekly  publications  are  avail- 
able. Numerous  portraits  and  other  paintings 
adorn  its  walls.  Theffe  is  a  writing  room  sup- 
plied with  typewriters,  a  pool  and  billiard 
room,  a  lounging  room,  a  buffet  and  a  barber 
shop.  One  floor  is  devoted  to  sleeping  rooms, 
where  the  charge  for  high-class  service  is 
reasonable. 

The  cafe  is  one  of  the  best  appointed  in 
Chicago  and  the  cuisine  of  the  club  is  fa- 
mously excellent.  In  addition  there  are  pri- 
vate dining  rooms  and  a  department  for  the 


ladies  of  club  members.  This  latter  includes 
a  rest  room  and  a  dining  room,  which  are 
open  from  eleven  o  'clock  in  the  morning 
until  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

The  club  holds  frequent  receptions  and  en- 
tertainments; it  gives  dinners  and  luncheons 
to  guests;  it  takes  outings;  goes  on  excur- 
sions and  contributes  in  many  other  ways  to 
the  pleasures  of  its  members  and  their  guests. 
It  extends  a  helping  hand  to  those  of  its 
members  who  may  be  sick  or  in  want,  and,  if 
need  be,  it  gives  them  final  resting  place  be- 
neath the  Press  Club  monument  at  Mount 
Hope. 

In  the  Press  Club  men  are  measured  for 
what  they  have  in  head  and  heart.  Here  is 
the  maximum  of  personal  liberty,  democracy, 
and  the  good  fellowship  of  men.  Lroyalty  and 
fraternity  and  brotherhood  are  here  in  marked 
degree.  A  man's  a  man  in  the  Press  Club 
of  Chicago. 


LIFE  MEMBERSHIP 


* '  During  the  twenty  years  I  have  been  a 
member  of  the  Press  Club  of  Chicago,  ex- 
perience, observation  and  reading  have  con- 
vinced me  that  it  is  the  truest  democracy  in 
America.  There  is  but  one  aristocracy,  that 
of  the  mind.  But  the  mind  is  a  democrat. 
The  Press  Club  is  a  mind  made  liberal  by  its 
close  acquaintance  with  a  man  and  his  whims. 
Here  we  find  no  prejudice.  Intelligence  is 
tolerant.  In  breadth  there  is  sympathy. 
Without  these  qualities  a  club  must  be  narrow. 

"Of  late  we  have  become  still  broader. 
From  close  communion  we  have  lessened  the 
tension  of  our  original  creed.  We  welcome 
certain  intellectual  forces  from  the  business 
world.  We  rejoice  in  our  greater  scope.  We 
take  business  by  the  right  hand.  We  grasp 
the  hand  of  the  professions.  We  say:  'Be 
one  of  us.  Let  us  learn  from  each  other.  We 
are  going  to  build  up  one  of  the  greatest  so- 
cial forces  in  the  country.  We  welcome 
you.'"  OPIE  READ. 


The  above  communication,   thoroughly   character- 
istic of  Opie   Read,   is  presented  to  those   who  have 


boen  invited  to  become  life  members  of  the  Press 
Club  in  order  to  assure  them  that  the  invitation 
is  genuine,  and  that  the  authors  and  newspaper 
men — the  active  members  of  the  Club — approve 
the  present  effort  to  broaden  the  membership,  and 
that  a  cordial  welcome  awaits  those  who  elect  to 
join  our  number.  Mr.  Read  Is  one  of  the  famous 
members  of  the  Club,  and  one  of  its  staunchest 
advocates.  He  voices  the  sentiment  of  the  literary 
workers  of  the  organization. 


P73S 

ma 

6K  RM 


The  Press  Club  Building 


